Category Archives: Behind the Arras Reviews

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads – Derby Theatre

Posted on January 16, 2018 by garylongden

**** David Bowie bestrides late 20th Century pop culture like few others. He left a mark with his music, fashion, films, acting, stage production and artistic alchemy. On the one hand he has left much to work with. On the … Continue reading →

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From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, Jan 15th16th 2018 – Derby Theatre, a Preview

Posted on January 8, 2018 by garylongden

I was fourteen when one summer’s day I heard another worldly sound coming through the open window of the house next door where a friend lived. I called around and asked who the artist was? “David Bowie, Moonage Daydream from … Continue reading →

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Behind the Arras Theatre Review of the Year 2017 by Gary Longden

Posted on January 2, 2018 by garylongden

  Reviewing theatre is a great job. I still get a shiver of excitement as the house lights dim, expectation tinged with uncertainty. When that goes I will stop. I have seen two shows a month this year at seven … Continue reading →

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Peter Pan – Derby Theatre

Posted on December 23, 2017 by garylongden

***** A few fortunate novelists and playwrights have created fiction which becomes assimilated into our language. Heller’s Catch 22 and Orwell’s 1984 have a life beyond their original creations, and so it is true of Scottish novelist and playwright J. … Continue reading →

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The Dreaming – Lichfield Garrick

Posted on December 19, 2017 by garylongden

Most people will be familiar with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a story of woods, faeries, romance and magic.   Some believe that the wood itself was inspired by the nearby real life Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, for the … Continue reading →

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The Gingerbread Man – Derby Theatre

Posted on December 16, 2017 by garylongden

The Studio at Derby theatre is best described as bijou. You have to walk across the stage to access your seats. Therein lies its charm, the opportunity for audience and actors to be as one. It is like watching a … Continue reading →

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Grease – Wolverhampton Grand

Posted on November 28, 2017 by garylongden

**** Grease is one of those ubiquitous shows . The older generation remember Olivia Newton John in THAT black leather cat suit in the 1978 film, the younger generation have been introduced to it as a staple of secondary school … Continue reading →

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Rita Sue & Bob Too – Derby Theatre

Posted on November 21, 2017 by garylongden

  Oscar Wilde declared that there is nothing so out of date as the recently fashionable. The Out of Joint Theatre Company has gambled with their revival of this acclaimed eighties one act play, first performed in 1982 about Thatcherite … Continue reading →

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Rita Sue & Bob Too – Derby Theatre Preview

Posted on November 14, 2017 by garylongden

This revival of a play which enjoyed considerable success as a film, comes to Derby Theatre on the 21st November. It is impossible to discuss the play without discussing the playwright, and rather than burden the review of the opening … Continue reading →

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Aladdin, Lichfield Garrick – A Preview

Posted on November 13, 2017 by garylongden

This Christmas the Lichfield Garrick Theatre has Aladdin as the pantomime show. A strong cast includes CBeebies’ Cat Sandion who will be playing the role of Jasmine . Cat, one of the leading presenters on the Bafta award winning channel, … Continue reading →

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